Nothing had suggested, since the DP World World Asia Cup Twenty20 got off the ground here in the United Arab Emirates, that Virat Kohli was going to score his first international Twenty20 century, which would also be his 71st century for India. It was long overdue because he had notched his 70th in the Pink Ball Test against Bangladesh at the Edden Gardens, Kolkata on November 23, 2019. Kohli, then, was in top form and his legions of fans believed that he was the only quality batsman who would come near Sachin Tendulkar’s 100 centuries for India.
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Kohli had looked run of the mill even in Dubai in the first match against Pakistan; he has groping in the dark against fast bowlers like Naseem Shah and Shahnawaz Dahani. He showed a stout heart and fierce determination though in the subsequent matches against Hong Kong and in the first Super 4 match against Pakistan. The sort of wild heave against Sri Lanka in the second Super 4 was unlike Kohli in times when he was finding it difficult to get going in the early stage of his tenure in the middle.
With nothing to weigh him down in a match that had become a no great shakes one, Kohli was thrown the opportunity to open the innings against Afghanistan because skipper Rohit Sharma chose to sit out and allow K. L. Rahul to lead the team. Rahul was the designated vice-captain of the team and hence, he was the automatic choice to lead in the absence of Sharma, but it is not known if the tour selection committee considered a second option to partner Rahul at the top of the order. Eventually, it fell upon Kohli — with 103 matches under his belt — to face the new ball.
Many years ago Australian captain Steve Waugh said that one has to make his luck in cricket, and on an eventful Thursday (September 8, 2022), Kohli made his own luck. He and Rahul did not waste time finding their rhythm, but he had an escape when Ibrahim Zadran could not convert a catch, a yard or so inside the mid-wicket boundary line, and the pull shot took Kohli from 28 to 34. Since that reprieve, Kohli did not look back. He went and hammer and tongs to make a 61-ball 122 in ninety minutes with 12 x 4s and 6 x 6s.
“Firstly I am grateful for how the day went today. Time away from the game gave me a good chance to sit back and observe a lot of things about me. I wasn’t desperate to prove anything to anyone, in a very real sense; not in a way that ‘I’ve done everything.’ It’s just about enjoying the game, understanding what God has blessed you with already, and then just being humble and going out there and doing the grind all over again. Today I think was just a build-up of the last few games. I actually batted out of my skin, to be honest, I surprised myself,’’ was Kohli’s first response.
Then about the long gap between hundreds for India, he said: “What actually surprised me was my 60s became failures, which was very shocking for me. I was batting pretty well and contributing, but it didn’t seem to be good enough. But as I said, God has blessed me with a lot of good times in the past, and that’s why I’m in this position where these things can be spoken about. I have absolutely no shame in admitting that God is blessing us all with everything in our destiny, we just have to work hard. So I went back to the drawing board, came back fresh, and came back excited. The team management has also had great communication with me through these times, they’ve kept my perspective right. When I came back there was not much information coming my way, they just said ‘you bat and enjoy yourself. So it was just a matter of getting back into the space of enjoyment.
Previously it was in his 90th Twenty20 match against England he made an unbeaten 80 as an opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium on March 20, 2021. He had fashioned those runs in 52 balls with 7 x 4s and 2 x 6s. In fact, it was in this third match in January 2011 that he first opened the innings against South Africa at Durban. In his eleventh match, he made 70 as an opener at Chepauk in 2012. He played his matches number 46 to 49 as an opener. And also his 59th and 90th. After his first century in the Asia Cup match against Afghanistan, he has an exact 400 runs in nine innings; as against 2623 runs at No. 3 in 67 innings. He has scored 509 runs at No. 4, one run in one match at No. 5 and two runs at No. 6.
It was a rare occasion when Sharma chose to take a rest that Kohli was asked to open and he made the most of it against an opponent that had given Pakistan a run for its money in the previous match at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. When Rahul was asked if Kohli would continue to open the innings, his answer was: “Should I sit out then? Obviously, Virat Kohli scoring runs is a huge bonus for the team. I know he is very very pleased with the way he batted. He has been working on his game for the last 2-3 series and that has worked beautifully. As a team, it is important that every player before going to the World Cup gets some time in the middle."
Now that he is through with the anxiety of not being able to get to his 71st century for India, Kohli could be seen in a free mind to bat, especially in the matches he is called upon against Australia and South Africa at home and in the World Cup in Australia. Only an exigency could see him see him an opener, though.
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